Connecticut wide receiver Deshon Foxx (4) watches as a pass intended for him is intercepted by BYU defensive back Craig Bills (20) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in East Hartford, Conn., Friday, Aug. 29, 2014.

Photo: Fred Beckham, AP

Connecticut wide receiver Deshon Foxx (4) watches as a pass...

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BYU wide receiver Mitch Mathews (10) makes a touchdown reception while being covered by Connecticut safety Obi Melifonwu (20) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in East Hartford, Conn., Friday, Aug. 29, 2014.

Photo: Fred Beckham, AP

BYU wide receiver Mitch Mathews (10) makes a touchdown reception...

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BYU quarterback Taysom Hill (4) runs for a touchdown during an NCAA college football game against Connecticut, Friday, Aug. 29, 2014.

Photo: Fred Beckham, AP

BYU quarterback Taysom Hill (4) runs for a touchdown during an NCAA...

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BYU quarterback Taysom Hill (4) runs for a first down while being pursued by Connecticut safety Obi Melifonwu (20) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in East Hartford, Conn., Friday, Aug. 29, 2014.

Photo: Fred Beckham, AP

BYU quarterback Taysom Hill (4) runs for a first down while being...

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Connecticut tight end Sean McQuillan (49) and BYU tight end Matt Sumsion (80) fight for a loose ball after a Connecticut fumble during the first half of an NCAA college football game in East Hartford, Conn., Friday, Aug. 29, 2014.

EAST HARTFORD -- Bob Diaco says that the foundation for his program has been laid. But apparently, it will take a while for the cement to harden.

Diaco's "restoration project" as he called it officially began Friday evening against BYU, but the coach's new Huskies -- on this night, anyway -- looked a lot more like Paul Pasqualoni's old Huskies. UConn was victimized by two costly turnovers, several crucial penalties and some silly mistakes in a 35-10 loss before 35,150 at Rentschler Field.

"There's a lot to clean up," Diaco said. "But you can see the foundation. You saw the toughness of every guy on the field. The foundation is being built. For the players to get better, they have to play in the game. We've got a long way to go but we've got the right guys to get us there."

A total of 59 players, including 50 in the first half alone, played in the game.

Yes, there were mistakes -- a lot of them -- but Diaco is rock-solid in his feeling that this team will get better. And soon.

"Things are changing. Everyone is upset that we didn't win," Diaco said. "But we're getting better every day. We're a better team than we were before the game."

After watching the Cougars march 75 yards in 15 plays on their opening drive, one might have disagreed with Diaco's assessment. In fact. BYU led 14-0 barely five minutes in and held a 21-0 lead five minutes into the second quarter. But after that, the Cougars outscored the Huskies just 14-7 the rest of the night.

"You can't start a football game like that and think you're going to win, come on ..." Diaco said. "But the players fought back, they responded. They looked locked in and they grinded it out until the bitter end."

BYU quarterback Taysom Hill, a 2014 Heisman Trophy candidate, scored on a 7-yard touchdown run and threw a 26-yard TD pass to Mitch Mathews -- the latter coming just one play after UConn's Max DeLorenzo fumbled the ball on the Huskies' opening play from scrimmage.

Hill, just a junior, lived up to the hype -- boy, did he -- completing 28-of-36 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns. He added 97 yards rushing for good measure as he accounted for 415 of BYU's 513 total yards.

"He's one of the most prolific quarterbacks in the country," Diaco said.

A 7-yard touchdown pass from Hill to Adam Hine made it 21-0 with 9:13 left in the second quarter, but the Huskies got on the board via a 52-yard drive led by backup quarterback Chandler Whitmer, who hooked up with tailback Josh Marriner for a 17-yard gain down to the Cougars 35. One play later, he hit tight end Sean McQuillan with a 13-yard strike to the BYU 10. Three plays later, Marriner powered in from the 1 to get the Huskies on the scoreboard with 2:33 left in the half.

The touchdown pulled UConn within 21-7, but it didn't stay that way for long. With Hill completing four passes for 67 yards, the Cougars went 70 yards in just five plays, but more importantly, did it in just 90 seconds to push the margin to 28-7 on a 35-yard pass to Terenn Houk as the teams went into halftime.

Bobby Puyol's 35-yard field goal with 11:48 to play made it 28-10 before Hill iced the game with a 26-yard TD run with 4:06 to play.

Diaco had said that a lot of true freshman would likely play in the game and several did, including tailback Arkeel Newsome of Ansonia, who caught a screen pass and rambled 18 yards down to the BYU 26 as the Huskies fought to get back in the game early. Newsome rushed three times for 10 yards.

Cochran, a Masuk grad, got the start in the last four games in 2013, leading the Huskies to three wins. After a spirited battle with Whitmer in the fall, it was Cochran's leadership abilities, according to Diaco, that won him the starting job. However, both Cochran and the entire UConn offense struggled. Cochran was 17-of-31 for 170 yards while Whitmer was 8-of-17 for 114 yards.

But as bad as the Huskies struggled, it could have been worse. BYU was guilty of 14 penalties for 140 yards, several that wiped out big plays on potential scoring drives.

BYU was the biggest "name" team to play a home opener at Rentschler since Indiana of the Big Ten came here in 2003. The Cougars brought almost a century of football tradition and history to the East Coast -- along with several thousand fans -- to play the Huskies.